Incident Response Reports

Incident Reporting & Response - 2014 Report By Susan Wright NCSF’s Incident Reporting & Response helps people who are being discriminated against because they are kinky and/or nonmonogamous: 184 requests for help were received in 2014. One-fourth of the cases evolved into weeks- or months-long projects, requiring the education of a number of legal, medical and mental health professionals about kink. Other professionals who requested information or resources to better serve kinky people included: academics, social services, vanilla nonprofit organizations & events, authors, merchant services, and insurance brokers. The drop in IRR requests can be partly attributed to the increased page views on NCSF’s Kink Aware Professionals database, with over 1,200 kinky people directly accessing KAP in 2014 to find a lawyer, therapist or other professional rather than asking NCSF for help through Incident Reporting & Response. Recognizing the need for more professionals to be listed in KAP, in 2014 NCSF joined forces with GayLawNet, a free referral database of gay-friendly attorneys. GayLawNet also began offering a Kink Aware Professional category for their lawyers to self-identify as kink aware. Of the 184 requests for assistance, the majority dealt with BDSM while only 6 involved polyamory/swing issues: 73 criminal issues 33 child custody 26 requests for info from professionals 20 kink group issues 10 discrimination issues 5 job discrimination 6 media related incidents 4 divorce 4 civil law issues 3 outings Criminal issues The 73 requests that involved criminal issues typically took the most time and effort to help resolve, including finding kink-aware legal representation and educating relevant professionals to remove kink as a barrier to services. The requests break down as follows: 42 – assistance with victim services, reporting an assault, sexual assault, blackmail or stalking to the police, and obtaining restraining orders 13 – referrals for kink-aware defense attorneys 6 – assisting sex workers who were arrested 6 – assisting people in dealing with: probation, sex offenders, sex traffickers 5 – research on state criminal laws and contracts Child Custody/Divorce In 2014, there was a significant drop in requests for help with child custody/divorce issues. That is due to the change in the DSM-5 criteria, which made it clear that people who are kinky are not mentally ill: 2014 – 37 people 2013 – * see note 2012 – 87 people 2011 – 115 people 2010 – 125 people 2009 – 132 people …

2012 Incident Reporting & Response Program Report In 2012, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 60 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF received 474 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. More than half required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 137 were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence/assault issues including criminal complaints regarding consent and protective orders 76 were regarding criminal complaint issues 14 were regarding employment discrimination 87 were regarding child custody/divorce issues 77 were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 19 were classed as non-employment discrimination 41 were related to swing community issues 23 were classed as “other” Of the inquires, the majority were driven by SM/leather/fetish related issues. However, due to the ongoing outreach and work NCSF has been doin in the swing community, we have seen an increase in requests for help from swing interests - primarly swing business establishments. 2012 saw a trend continue with an increased number of requests around criminal and domestic violence or SM/abuse related issues. NCSF had contact with more than 35 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 40 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues.. Our Community Discussion Guide on Consent, along with the Legal and Community Support components of our Consent Counts program hopes to help address the issues regarding consent we have both in and out of our communities. We continue to receive a number of requests for assistance from groups, businesses, and other support organizations who want information about how to operate legally, do law enforcement outreach, file for non-profit status, deal…

2011 Incident Reporting & Response Program Report In 2011, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF received 630 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. More than half required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 112 were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence/assault issues including criminal complaints regarding consent and protective orders 135 were regarding criminal complaint issues 27 were regarding employment discrimination 115 were regarding child custody/divorce issues 154 were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 9 were classed as non-employment discrimination 29 were related to swing community issues 49 were classed as “other” Of the inquires, 87% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues, 7% by swing, 5% by poly, 1% by other. 2011 saw a trend continue with an increased number of requests around criminal and domestic violence or SM/abuse related issues. NCSF had contact with more than 40 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 30 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues.. Our Community Discussion Guide on Consent, along with the Legal and Community Support components of our Consent Counts program hopes to help address the issues regarding consent we have both in and out of our communities. We continue to receive a number of requests for assistance from groups, businesses, and other support organizations who want information about how to operate legally, do law enforcement outreach, file for non-profit status, deal with the media or the press, do hotel/event outreach, or do research around zoning or other legal…

Incident Response Program? 2010 Report Submitted by Leigha Fleming____________________________________________________________ In 2010, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM?leather?fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 482 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2009. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. ? NCSF received 526 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. ? 307 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. ? 9% or 47 were requests regarding SM/ Incident Response Program 2010 Report Submitted by Leigha Fleming In 2010, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM,leather,fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 482 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2009. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. NCSF received 526 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 307 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests,…

In 2009, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 482 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2009. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. NCSF received 482 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 337 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 11% were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence issues 36% were regarding criminal complaint issues 3% were regarding employment discrimination 27.5% were regarding child custody/divorce issues 17.5% were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 1% were classed as non-employment discrimination 3% were related to swing community issues .5% were regarding online obscenity issues 3.5% were classed as “other” Of the inquires: 95.5% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues 3% by swing 1% by poly 0.5% by other 2009 saw an increased number of requests around criminal and domestic violence or SM/abuse related issues. NCSF worked with more than 46 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 14 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues. There is a clear need for education within our own communities about the role and limits of consent and for education to police authorities about the differences between SM and abuse. Our Consent Counts project hopes to address some of these issues. There is a great need for educational within our own communities regarding consent and a great need for change in laws related to consensual adult sexual expression. The implementation of KAP under NCSF’s administration resulted…

In 2008, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 500 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2008. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects.NCSF received 489 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 317 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 11% were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence issues 27% were regarding criminal complaint issues 4% were regarding employment discrimination 31.5% were regarding child custody/divorce issues 15.5% were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 1% were classed as non-employment discrimination 5% were related to swing community issues 2.5% were regarding online obscenity issues 2.5% were classed as “other” Of the inquires, 85.5% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues 9% by swing 5% by poly 0.5% by other 2008 saw an increased number of requests around criminal and domestic violence or SM/abuse related issues. NCSF worked with more than 27 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 11 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues. There is a clear need for education within our own communities about the role and limits of consent and for education to police authorities about the differences between SM and abuse. Employment related discrimination is increasing as well. The implementation of KAP under NCSF’s administration resulted in fewer requests for referrals because we were able to refer the request to our site. As we improve the KAP administration, and resource, the number of requests for referrals that need…

In 2007, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 50 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 640 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2007. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. NCSF received 647 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 341 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least two of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 12% were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence issues 23% were regarding criminal complaint issues 4% were regarding employment discrimination 14% were regarding child custody/divorce issues 2.5% were in reference to child protective services’ complaints 17% were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 2% were classed as non-employment discrimination 15% were related to swing community issues 3% were regarding online obscenity issues 4.5% were regarding zoning issues 3% were classed as “other” Of the inquires received: 72% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues 19% by swing 6% by poly 3% by other. 2007 saw an increased number of requests particularly in reference to criminal charges related to SM conduct. NCSF worked with more than 26 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 17 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues. There is a clear need for education within our own communities about the role and limits of consent and for education to police authorities about the differences between SM and abuse. Some jurisdictions are definitely doing a better job than others. However, it’s been very difficult to see a trend where one area of the country is more tolerant than others.…

In 2006, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 500 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2006. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. NCSF received 521 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 289 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 13% were requests regarding SM/abuse/domestic violence issues 6% were regarding criminal complaint issues 7% were regarding employment discrimination 13.5% were regarding child custody/divorce issues 5.5% were in reference to child protective services’ complaints 14.5% were related to SM/leather/fetish group issues 9% were classed as non-employment discrimination 8% were related to swing community issues 8% were regarding online obscenity issues 10.5% were regarding zoning issues 5% were classed as “other” Of the inquires: 73.5% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues 15% by swing 7% by poly 4.5% by other 2006 saw an increased number of requests around criminal and domestic violence or SM/abuse related issues. NCSF worked with more than 30 attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. In addition, we worked with more than 10 district attorneys and prosecutors related to SM issues. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues. There is a clear need for education within our own communities about the role and limits of consent and for education to police authorities about the differences between SM and abuse. Employment related discrimination is increasing as well. The implementation of KAP under NCSF’s administration resulted in fewer requests for referrals because we were able to refer the request to our site. As…

NCSF Supports Your Rights In 2005, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 700 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2005. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects. NCSF received 726 distinct inquiries/requests for assistance. 327 required more than one contact/response to resolve, often requiring multiple contacts. 31% were requests for referrals (criminal, divorce, custody, zoning, etc…) 18% were requests for NCSF support regarding group/club/business formations 15% were custody/divorce related 9% were media driven/press related issues 9% were employment discrimination 7% were regarding harassment/domestic violence assistance 7% were other/misc. 4% were criminal in nature Of the inquires NCSF received: 58% were driven by SM/leather/fetish issues 22% by poly 17% by swing 3% by other It is difficult to categorize many incident requests as clearly falling into one camp or another. Many overlap in categories. For example, many of our custody/divorce related issues involve at least 2 of our core constituent groups (i.e. SM/leather/fetish and poly for example). In trying to do a statistical breakdown of the requests, we placed it in the category it most clearly matched. 2005 saw an increased number of requests around criminal and employment issues. NCSF worked with more than 2 dozen attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. The vast majority of these criminal cases revolved around domestic abuse or consensual sex/play issues. There is a clear need for education within our own communities about the role and limits of consent and for education to police authorities about the differences between SM and abuse. Employment related discrimination is increasing as well. The largest category of requests were for referrals. NCSF's addition of the KAP resource should in time lower the number of requests for referrals that need to be handled by a person since we’ll be able to refer people to the KAP database. It will be extremely helpful to us to be able to set up some kind of…

NCSF Supports Your Rights In 2004, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of over 40 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Director Leigha Fleming. In total, over 740 individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses contacted NCSF for help in 2004. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but some evolved into much larger projects such as the CUFFs group incident. Cuffs, a nonprofit SM club at Iowa State University, was called before disciplinary council in March, with their SM demonstrations cited as assault. The media coverage was nationwide. NCSF sent out two press releases on the rights of college students to have access to free expression and educational forums on SM during this incident. 2004 saw an increased number of requests around criminal and legal issues. Individuals, businesses and groups consulted with NCSF on: the legality and definition of obscene materials, guidelines for posting sexually frank information on websites, the law regarding private parties, allegations of false rape, alleged domestic violence, and dealing with law enforcement. The largest category of incidents involved parents who were engaged in child custody and divorce cases, as well as an increased number of employment related incidents. Parents continue to experience difficulties gaining child custody due to their interest in SM, swing or poly activities. NCSF worked with a number of attorneys representing parents accused of being unfit because of their alternative lifestyle interests. In many cases, because of information we were able to provide, the courts decided that alternative sexual expression alone was not cause to impugn a parent's ability to be a good parent. Group incidents decreased in 2004, with only a few requests from local groups to assist with hotels and media to help resolve their issues. This may be due to the fact that religious political extremist groups appear to have been busy in 2004 opposing gay marriage. NCSF received one call in January from a Michigan newspaper asking about gay marriage in regards to how it would affect the legality of polygamy (the answer - not at all).…

NCSF Supports Your Rights! In 2003, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) once again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of 38 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. Leigha Fleming directs NCSF's Incident Response team. In total during 2003, NCSF responded to more than 500 cases, with more than 1,300 contacts between NCSF and individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses that requested assistance. Some incidents required only one or two phone calls, but many evolved into much larger projects such as the attacks by religious political groups against SM conferences. In 42% of the incidents, NCSF assisted individuals. The largest category of incidents involved parents who were engaged in child custody and divorce cases. Parents continue to experience difficulties gaining child custody due to their interest in SM, swing or poly activities. NCSF worked with a number of attorneys representing parents accused of being unfit because of their alternative lifestyle interests. In many cases, because of information we were able to provide, the courts decided that alternative sexual expression alone was not cause to impugn a parent's ability to be a good parent. We also helped families dealing with child protective services because of their alternative lifestyle interests. NCSF saw a sharp rise in the number of requests for help from individuals experiencing employment discrimination because of their involvement in alternative lifestyles in 2003. Individuals also consulted with NCSF on a variety of other issues, including: the legality of obscene materials, guidelines for posting sexually frank information on websites, the law regarding private parties, criminal cases, dealing with law enforcement and dealing with personal media exposure. In 2003, NCSF also opposed zoning and other local regulatory measures against those who practice some form of alternative sexual expression. NCSF assisted the swing communities in Illinois and North Carolina by working with them to fight back against punitive zoning restrictions. In addition, we extended our outreach to the polyamory community in 2003 by working with individuals impacted by discrimination against their relationship style. Conventions Opposition to SM events based on religious concerns continued in 2003. The host hotel for My Vicious Valentine (February 14-16) received calls from Concerned Women for America at…

Overview: NCSF Supports Your Rights! In 2002, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) once again took the lead in defending the rights of individuals and groups in the SM-leather-fetish, swing and polyamory communities. NCSF's coalition of 29 educational and social groups is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF's Incident Response team is directed by Leigha Fleming, who instituted new methods for tabulating responses in 2002. In total, nearly 600 contacts were made between NCSF and individuals, groups, attorneys, prosecutors, and businesses who requested assistance. Each incident sometimes required only one or two phone calls, but many evolved into much larger projects such as the series of attacks by religious political extremists against SM conferences in the midwest. In 41% of the incidents, NCSF assisted individuals. The largest category of incidents involved parents who were engaged in child custody and divorce cases. Parents continue to experience difficulties gaining child custody due to their interest in SM, swing or poly activities. NCSF worked with a number of attorneys representing parents accused of being unfit because of their alternative lifestyle interests. In many cases, because of information we were able to provide, the courts decided that alternative sexual expression alone was not cause to impugn a parent's ability to be a good parent. Individuals also consulted with NCSF on a variety of other issues, including: the legality of obscene materials, guidelines for posting sexually frank information on websites, the law regarding private parties, and dealing with personal media exposure. In 2002, NCSF also opposed zoning and other local regulatory measures against those who practice some form of alternative sexual expression. NCSF assisted the swing communities in Florida and Phoenix by holding open-forum discussions about how to affect zoning regulations and current litigation against lifestyle clubs. NCSF also worked with the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA) to lobby against the Washington DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control regulation 905, which has been used to prohibit SM play in local establishments with liquor licenses even when liquor isn't being sold or consumed. Conventions From February to May 2002, five SM conventions were targeted by Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, and the American Decency Association. NCSF worked with each event to counter sensationalized attacks in the media as well as resisting action by…

About Incident Reporting & Response

The NCSF Incident Reporting & Response (IRR) program provides assistance to individuals and groups within the alternative sexual expression communities who become victimized because of SM, leather, fetish, or swing practices.

Program Goals: NCSF's Incident Reporting & Response was created to provide assistance to individuals and groups within the BDSM, swinging and poly communities who are experiencing discrimination or needs assistance because of their interests and activities.